Stuck on a London Heathrow layover at the Heathrow International airport? London’s Heathrow airport is one of the busiest airports in the world and is located roughly 15 miles from London’s city center, making it an accessible destination for those who are stuck on long London layovers. If you’re trying to decide whether you can leave the airport on your Heathrow layover, click here for useful tips.If you’re stuck inside the airport during your London layover, Heathrow provides a number of services and activities that can help your layover become a short vacation in itself. Here are some of the various shops and facilities available, listed by terminal, to keep you busy during your wait. To aid with shopping, passengers can hire Personal Shopping Consultants, who can be distinguished by their green uniforms (to book a shopping consultant, call 0870 850 2825 (UK) or +44 (0)121 410 5105). In addition to duty free and regular shopping, there are also many restaurants ranging from fine dining to quick snacks to choose from during your Heathrow layover. Here are the various bars and restaurants options at the airport.

A number of executive lounges are available at the Heathrow airport (at Terminal 1,3,4,5). The lounges offer a range of beers, complimentary Wi-Fi and other standard facilities. You can book these lounges from here. The price starts from £17.95. In case you need special care assistance, contact +44 (0)844 335 1801 for general advice and information.

The Molton Brown Travel Spa is located in British Airways Terminal 1 and Terminal 4 Departures Lounges at Heathrow Airport. The spa offers a variety of services including massages, hydrotherapy showers, circulation and reflex therapies, and is an ideal way to relax during your Heathrow layover.

If you are looking to exchange the currency, Foreign Exchanges and ATMs are available at all the terminals (click here for their locations). In addition, the airport has many prayer rooms available including Catholic, Free Church, Anglican, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh chaplains. They can all be contacted through the airport information desks within the terminals and you can find more information here.

For passengers who arrive at night or are looking to relax, the Hilton London Heathrow Airport hotel is located across the covered walkway linked to Terminal Four, and the Sofitel London Heathrow is also connected via a covered walkway to Terminal Five. In addition there are many hotels near the Heathrow airport, including these. For more hotels at varying price points in London, click here!

If you’re looking to ditch your luggage during your Heathrow layover, Left Luggage facilities are available at all the terminals. The Left Luggage service charges £4 per item for 24 hours. For their hours of operation and location, click here.

Taxis are available outside the airport for quick transport, and there are also car rental companies onsite. Direct booking can be found here. Heathrow airport is also well connected with public transportation. While taking the London Underground is the cheapest way to get into London, it can take up to an hour each way. If you’re strapped for time, the London Heathrow Express train can get you into London for as little as 15 minutes. Click here to figure out the best way to travel into the city during your London layover.

Layover Guide’s Suggestions Of Things To Do On A Heathrow Layover:

London Tours

You can book a Layover Tour in London, that will pick you up straight from the airport and show you the city’s sites, and get you back to catch your connecting flight. In addition, there are dozens of London tours you can choose from including dinner and theater tickets, cultural and museum tours, landmarks, trips to Stonehenge and so much more!

Sightseeing Bus

The hop-on, hop-off bus gives a commentary of the sights as you pass them. Tickets can be purchased right on the bus or online. You can “hop on” at Paddington station, and “hop off” wherever you choose. It swings back around to Paddington, if that’s all the time you have, to get back to the airport.

Tower of London

At The Tower of London, you’ll find torture exhibits as well as the famous Crown Jewels which includes the First Star of Africa, the largest flawless cut diamond at 530 carats! Beefeaters, who are the walking tour guides, lead the hour-long tours every hour until 3:30p.m.

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace, home to the British monarch, is another favorite sightseeing spot for those with only a short time in London. Victoria, Green Park and Hyde Park Corner are the closest Tube stations. Also, you can catch the changing of the guard, but should check ahead for the schedule as it does not happen every day.

Westminster Abbey and Big Ben

Exit the tube at the Westminster stop. You will first see Big Ben and further down the street Westminster Abbey, where Chaucer, Samuel Johnson, Tennyson, Browning, and Dickens are all buried here.

Cabinet War Rooms

Close to the Abby, you can see the actual underground bunker Winston Churchill used during World War II. Everything there from the wall maps, to Churchill’s cot are authentic.

Windsor Castle

Take a taxi or bus 77 from Heathrow to Windsor Castle in about 40 minutes. The 900-year-old castle is an official residence of The Queen and the largest occupied castle in the world.

Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park is London’s most popular attractions and theme parks. It opened as a water park in 1970 however more thrill rides were added later. The park is around 5.1 miles from the airport and thus, close for a quick trip during a London layover.

None of these activities interest you? Here’s a list of more suggestions of places you can visit during London layover at the Heathrow airport.

Have a suggestion for a London Heathrow layover? Leave a comment below!

I was recently stuck in Heathrow (24hrs)and went to Winsor 25 min really preety green town full character…fab day.Walked around in morning let lines to amazing casle die down visit at lunchtime (need good 2 hours)Then hired pushbike and cycled along Thames and over to Eton college .If you have been travelling for a while and need some openspaces and greenery way to go.

I would like to utilize the executive lounge at Heathrow in terminal 5 during my layover on my return flight to Miami Florida{Feb 27-28]. How can I make this reservation? are the executive lounges open overnight?

Excuse the naive question, but all this information means its okay for me to leave the terminal? I’m an American. Do I need to get a visa or do anything special? I want to meet a friend who would come to visit me at the airport.
Thanks

Hello David, no when traveling from the US you do not need a visa to leave the airport. I have done so many times, when you go to england from the us you can stay in the country without a visa for multiple months you do not need an esta like when traveling into the us from europ which then lasts 60 days. Europien countries are much easier if you are there for a Holiday. Meet your friends have a nice day in the city and enjoy yourself London is a great City even if i prefer the smaller towns all around.

Are you going to Amritsar from Heathrow at 9:30pm (Air India)? I am on that flight and also have a 14 hour lay over. I’m looking for someone to go into London with me and take in the sights. Maybe we could hook up?

im flying from ktm nepal to u.s and i have layover at karachi pak airport for 12 hours.im u.s citizen but have no visa.is it possible for me to go and rest in hotel look around city….plz some1 can help me

I will be travelling from US to India and I already have H1B visa stamped on my passport. Because of the long layover I am thinking of taking the London tour. Do I need transit visa to leave the airport?

Hi,
I have a layover of 5 30 hours and i want to meet a friend in heathrow airport.I am travelling from India to US.Is it possible for me to leave the terminal and meet ? or should i be taking any special permissions.
Thanks.

My sister has a layover at heathrow for 3 hours and i want to meet her at the airport.
i know she will have to go thru security again..do you think its feasible given the time (3 hrs)?
Also will she need a visa to just come out of the secure area? she will not leave the airport. she has an Indian passport and she is travelling to San fransisco with a H1B visa.

I have a layover here for about 5 hours, and this is the first time I’ll be in Europe, so I want to explore a little bit. Is it plausible for me to leave the airport? What are some places I can go to that are close by?

If its only 5 hours that you have in total from landing to take off, then after going through customs and needing to be back for security, that probably leaves you with 2.5 hours max to sightsee. Although on our second trip we toured London with London Magical Tours, our guide pointed Windsor castle from the airport so that must be pretty close and could probably work best for you if you only have a few hours. If its your first time in London and with time being so limited, I would definitely recommend an organised layover tour to make the most of it. Just dont think of taking the subway into town if you only have a couple of hours, you’ll spend all the time traveling. We did on our first layover and ended up lost, it was a mess!

I am looking for a kind person who can share to me his/her ideas about my concern.

I am a Filipino. I will be flying on Feb 5,2013 from Philippines to Nigeria in a connecting flight. my second layover will be in London Heathrow. I have a total layover of 18 hours from arrival to departure in the said airport.

I was in London 2 years ago, i had student visa in UK before and stayed for a year there with clean visa record until i went back home.

Is it possible that i go out from the airport and explore the places i miss in London and take some pictures of it so that I can enjoy my layover time? do i need to get any permits to do so?

Try this too – Heathrow Express offers up a 15 minute journey right into Paddington Station, so if you have a few hours, you can see a few sights in central London and then hop back on the train back to the airport in time to checkin for your flight.

My parents will be visiting me on Feb 27th.They have indian passport and visiting me on 10 year super visa for Canada. They have 12 hours lay over London airport. Can they go out to visit the city or do they need any special permission?

Hello, im new to this website needing some info and advice.
Im flying in from delhi going to canada with a 8 hour layover in heathrow. I am planning to meet up with someone, would it be better for me to leave the airport or for my friend to just come into the airport? Also will i have to pickup and re checkin my suitcases or will they get switched directly into my connecting flight because im planning to exit the airport with just my carry on and not my big suitcases?! Is 8 hour layover enough time to go visit london and what is the quickest mode of transportation. Thank you!

Hello Moe,
Did you go out from Heathrow ? I will be at the same situation like you and I want to go out too but I am worried if my checked in luggage will be switched directly or not.
Waiting for reply. Thanks!

Just on our way back home, we had a 12 hour layover at London’s Heathrow and did the London Magical Tours layover trip. Appreciated the recommendation on here, it worked out great.

Moe, we were also worried about our bags at first but were able to bring them with us. Our big bags have been sent straight to Dallas and we only had our carry ons. It definitely beat waiting at Terminal 2!

Hi I have layover 12 hrs at heathrow on 21st march from Canada to India. I have indian passport and Canadian work visa. I want to meet my Sibling-in-law at the airport. Do I need visa? if yes then can I get that at the airport?

I am travelling from india to usa and has 8 hrs layover at london heathrow Airport in june 1st week.

As first timer i do not know if i shud carry eatables for those 8 hours. Will i get veg eatables there? What options and how much cost range? Shud i get GBPs from Indian airport itself? Or exchange there?